Saturday, October 29, 2011

Going out for a run to try these new features. Nike got going, releasing this important update, no doubt moved along by the MotoActv Android competitor I previewed coming in November 6th.

Firmware Update 2.0.1

This update is for the firmware that runs on the Nike+ SportWatch GPS powered by TomTom and is required for all users. It includes the following:

• Adds stopwatch mode. (Excellent)

• Improves tap sensitivity for manual laps. (I have found it takes a hard tap to mark a lap.)

• Adds alarm capability.

• Adds the option to adjust the time of day or date on the watch without using Nike+ Connect. (along with alarm now watch can be used as an everyday watch)

• Adds the option to display either speed or pace. (useful on the bike.)

• Adds support for inverting the screen to display black text on a white background. (should be easier to see screen in bright light, an issue with current white text on black)

• Adds support for choosing any favorite metric when in auto or manual laps mode. (this was a real pain and missing option before the update)

• Adds an auto looping option for the upper metric. (probably the most useful as the watch only displayed 2 metrics at a time requiring button pushes to see other metrics.)

• Additional minor bug fixes.

Update:
1)Tried manual laps with my selected upper and lower metrics. In an improvement to what I have experienced before, each tap of the screen to mark a lap displayed, for a few seconds: the completed lap's distance, time, and average pace. Manual laps can also be used to get a sense of current pace. Run a few minutes, tap and see average pace for the lap time period. Useful. The change is that previously no matter what your selected metrics were, a tap for manual lap eliminated the lower metric and only displayed the lap times for the rest of the run in the lower part of the screen.
2) Tapping to mark a lap previously required a firm whack with 2 fingers and often didn't register. Now a smooth 2 firm tap registers the lap without fail.
3) There may be bug in the intervals mode when you select a distance for the interval and a time for the rest period. I am getting gibberish distances on the welcome screen to start the workout.Update 11/27:
Another firmware update. The key "fix" instant pace. I have got to say I don't think it works. Yes, the wild fluctuations are gone but on a 10 mile run at very consistent pace throughout with instant pace displayed as my favorite (lower half of screen) stat the instant pace was consistently approximately 40 seconds per mile faster than my average.